The Degree and Sources of Oligopsony Power: An Application to the Haitian Coffee Market

Agribusiness, Industrial Organization,

Younger Households Saving: Evidence From Japan and Italy

Both young and old consumers appear to dissave too little for their behaviour to be consistent with a strict life cycle model. We concentrate on young households and document their behaviour drawing from Italian and Japanese data. We also provide a theoretical set-up which can account for the observed fact without relying on assumptions about the working of credit markets or the degree of foresight of consumers.

Évaluation du financement public de la politique de protection sociale: Une lecture spéciale du Programme Ede Pèp

Sur demande du Gouvernement Haïtien, la Commission Économique des Nations-Unies pour l´Amérique Latine et la Caraïbe (CEPALC) a commandité une étude aux fins d’évaluer la situation actuelle du système de financement de la politique et des programmes de protection sociale en Haïti par l’État, et d’identifier les opportunités de mobilisation de nouvelles ressources

Moral hazards in credit relations

Finding evidence for the presence of moral hazard is difficult because measures of \u27unwillingness\u27 are not readily available. For this reason, many theoretical models born out of Information Theory remain untested. In this dissertation I develop two theoretical models and derive empirical tests for the presence of a specific form of moral hazard in credit transactions: diversion of borrowed funds. In the first model, I assess a household\u27s demographic structure as a source of this specific risk, while in the second model, I explore the possibility that lenders schedule the release of funds to farmers to avoid default risks due to capital diversion. Summaries of these models and test results are included below. Model I. While the fungibility of funds has been recognized as a problem facing agricultural credit programs, it is not clear how or where funds are diverted by borrowers. Household composition is likely to be an important determinant of the allocation of resources between consumption and production. In particular, given equal resources, households who have to support many dependents relative to others may be more likely to divert funds toward consumption. Evidence from rural South India supports the hypothesis that household composition is one of the determinants of equilibrium input demand, and farmer output. Accordingly, moneylenders consider both wealth and household composition when deciding on the size of loans to offer households. Model II. The existing literature on informal rural credit ignores the timing of loan disbursements as a choice variable in lenders\u27 decisions. This model introduces delayed disbursement as an alternative mechanism lenders use to cope with the most likely type of information asymmetry faced by rural lenders: moral hazard. A model is introduced in which a lender-faced with a limited liability constraint and moral hazard--must schedule the disbursement of loans to (a) avoid willful default, and (b) obtain the necessary current production information to assess the farmer\u27s ability to repay. Empirical findings based on data from South India confirm the model\u27s predictions that poor farmers with a bad credit history are the most likely targets of delay

Moral hazards in credit relations

Finding evidence for the presence of moral hazard is difficult because measures of \u27unwillingness\u27 are not readily available. For this reason, many theoretical models born out of Information Theory remain untested. In this dissertation I develop two theoretical models and derive empirical tests for the presence of a specific form of moral hazard in credit transactions: diversion of borrowed funds. In the first model, I assess a household\u27s demographic structure as a source of this specific risk, while in the second model, I explore the possibility that lenders schedule the release of funds to farmers to avoid default risks due to capital diversion. Summaries of these models and test results are included below. Model I. While the fungibility of funds has been recognized as a problem facing agricultural credit programs, it is not clear how or where funds are diverted by borrowers. Household composition is likely to be an important determinant of the allocation of resources between consumption and production. In particular, given equal resources, households who have to support many dependents relative to others may be more likely to divert funds toward consumption. Evidence from rural South India supports the hypothesis that household composition is one of the determinants of equilibrium input demand, and farmer output. Accordingly, moneylenders consider both wealth and household composition when deciding on the size of loans to offer households. Model II. The existing literature on informal rural credit ignores the timing of loan disbursements as a choice variable in lenders\u27 decisions. This model introduces delayed disbursement as an alternative mechanism lenders use to cope with the most likely type of information asymmetry faced by rural lenders: moral hazard. A model is introduced in which a lender-faced with a limited liability constraint and moral hazard--must schedule the disbursement of loans to (a) avoid willful default, and (b) obtain the necessary current production information to assess the farmer\u27s ability to repay. Empirical findings based on data from South India confirm the model\u27s predictions that poor farmers with a bad credit history are the most likely targets of delay

The Sources of Oligopsony Power in the Haitian Coffee Market

This paper extends Appelbaum's model to test for potential sources of oligopsony power and determinants of the number of exporters in the Haitian coffee market. The analysis and results provide insights into consequences of government policy alternatives